We Feed, Teach & Grow.

The Food Shuttle recovers and distributes 6 million pounds of food per year, and teaches skills for self-sufficiency including culinary job skills, shopping and cooking healthy on a budget, and how to grow food.

Get to know IFFS:

OUR MISSION

Inter-Faith Food Shuttle is a nonpartisan, 501c3 non-profit organization and a member of the Feeding America National Network of Food Banks. As a Feeding America Food Bank, we recover and distribute food to our low-income neighbors, but we know putting food on a plate is not enough. We also provide programs designed to empower people with skills to meet their own food needs through culinary job training, beginner gardening, and cooking healthy on a budget. We feed, teach, and grow to create a hunger-free and healthy community.

WHO WE SERVE

North Carolina is the 10th hungriest state in the U.S. In our seven county service area alone, more than 260,000 people are food insecure and may not know where their next meal is coming from. Learn more about hunger in NC →

1 in 5 children in North Carolina is at risk for hunger

Over 118,000 children applied to receive free or reduced lunch last year through our public schools in our seven service counties. That's almost 53% of school-aged children in these public school systems.

18% of North Carolina seniors face hunger, one of the ten worst rates in the nation

We believe HUNGER IS UNACCEPTABLE! On a deeper level, we believe the solutions to hunger are found in building a community food system that supports all of its residents with knowledge, skills, and access to healthy eating.

How We Serve

All of our programs seek to support low-income families living in food deserts without adequate access to nutritious food and without the income to purchase healthy meals. By partnering with churches and community housing, almost 7,000 people in low-income neighborhoods shop for free at 25 Mobile Markets right where they live. Volunteers deliver bags of fresh produce, some grown on our own farm, to almost 2,000 seniors. Almost 5,000 children receive nutritious meals through BackPack Buddies, School Pantries, and our food truck. All told, by partnering with 200 agencies, schools and community centers, almost 60,000 adults and children struggling with hunger receive healthy food on average every month. Additionally, more than 5,000 individuals participate in our cooking and gardening programs, strengthening their self-sufficiency, increasing their consumption of fresh produce, and becoming more food literate.

Where we serve

The Food Shuttle operates in a seven county service area in central North Carolina, including: Wake, Durham, Johnston, Orange, Chatham, Nash and Edgecombe counties.

our history

In 1989, co-founders Jill Staton Bullard and Maxine Solomon had a light bulb moment. One routine morning, they noticed that fast-food breakfast sandwiches were being thrown away simply because the clock had moved from “breakfast time” to “lunch time.” They knew the need was out there and had to take action. Eleven sandwiches were delivered to Shepherd's table that same day, providing nourishment to 44 patrons. The groundwork for the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle was born.